Some good may not be too long in coming from the tragic story of a social services supervisor in a Charlotte suburb who stands accused of abusing five children in her care and forcing them to live in ghastly conditions. Craig Horn, a Republican state representative whose district isn't too far from Wanda Larson's house, is trying to find a way to make changes to North Carolina's system of foster care, adoption and legal guardianship of children--changes that seem long overdue.
Late yesterday, it emerged that Larson wasn't the foster mother of an 11-year-old boy found chained to a porch and shivering on Friday morning. She was his legal guardian--and under current law, that means that no one was legally required to check on the child. When Horn found out about this, he was flabbergasted.
He said that may mean home visits and more transparency. He is on a fact-finding mission and is talking to other lawmakers, including the head of a committee looking at foster care and adoption in the state.
"I'm confident quite frankly, confident, that we are going to have some legislation evolve from this incident," said Horn.
Watch Horn's interview with WSOC-TV in Charlotte
here.
Horn thinks that since the state plays a role in the adoption process, somebody needs to be taking a look. That only makes sense. Granted, Horn is a Republican who represents a DEEEEEEEEP red area of Union County. I know from experience--this area is only half an hour down U.S. 74 from me. But protecting children is something that should never, ever be partisan.
Horn's proposed law would be long overdue for the biological families of three kids under Larson's care. On Monday, a relative of the boy found chained up on Friday told WCNC-TV that numerous complaints about how the boy was treated fell on deaf ears. Yesterday, his biological mother went even further. She said that when she saw her son, she thought he looked too skinny. She also noticed that he always smelled of animal urine and didn't want to talk about how he was doing. The mother of two other kids under Larson's care also noticed problems with the 11-year-old, but was told that if she kept reporting her concerns, her visitation could be in jeopardy. Hopefully with Horn's proposed law, DSS won't be able to pull a stunt like that.